Chapter 17
“I’m telling you. It was like something out of a movie. Athena knows what she’s doing.” Henry pulled his saddle from the back of his horse and hefted it onto a stand. “She’s got this raw talent for reading that horse.”
Hudson snorted. “Okay, but just because she can work with the beast doesn’t mean she can work with all the animals.”
“We don’t have any other animals she would have to work with. Most of our animals are well-behaved. Are you saying that you wish we had more troublemakers?”
His brother shrugged. “All I’m saying is that maybe she’s not as great as you think she is. What do we really know about her? I mean, she lied about her name. She lied about her family.”
“She never lied about her family,” Henry shot back as he took a rag to the saddle to wipe down the leather. “She just never told you about her past. I can’t say I blame her, either. You’ve been sorta a jerk since she got here.”
Folding his arms, Hudson shot a dark look at Henry. “I just don’t have the love-sick goggles that you do. I swear, she could rob us blind in the middle of the night and you’d make excuses for her.”
Henry shook his head. This was the reason he hadn’t told anyone about their shared kiss last week. He’d finally felt like he was making some headway with her. Athena had agreed to work with Beast when they were doing their training exercises. Ever since that started, the horse had been on his best behavior.
He couldn’t believe that his brother didn’t see it. There was such a thing as a horse whisperer and Athena was it. Henry would bet his life on that fact, only they didn’t have any other animals to test his theory. For now, only Beast needed the help.
“So, what comes next?” Hudson cut into Henry’s thoughts. “Is she staying? Did you clear this with Wade? I don’t think we can afford to pay her to help out when she’s only keeping one horse calm. Does she have any other talents? From what I know, this is her first time even being on a ranch.”
“We don’t have to worry about that right now.”
“Why not? Once Beast is tamed, then what? It’s not like we’ll need her forever.”
Henry’s body stiffened. It wasn’t Hudson’s fault that he didn’t know how close Henry had gotten to Athena. But the idea of her leaving already left Henry feeling hollow. He didn’t want to consider a future where she didn’t stick around.
“Think about it,” Hudson continued. “She’s a drifter. For all we know, she’ll grow tired of being here and then she’ll take off and we’ll never see her again.”
“Then I guess you don’t have anything to worry about,” Henry snapped, whirling around to glare at his brother. “You can’t have it both ways. Either you’re worried about keeping her on, or you’re worried she’s gonna take off. Which is it?”
Hudson didn’t react. He schooled his features and his eyes narrowed. Then they opened fully and he shook his head with a bitter laugh. “I can’t believe you.”
Henry froze. Hudson didn’t know anything. He couldn’t. There was no chance that he’d seen or heard anything because Henry had been so careful not to let anyone know. Straightening his back and rolling his shoulders, he kept his glare trained on his brother. “What?”
“You like her.”
“You’ve said as much before.”
“Yeah. I was poking fun at the fact that the guy who, up until this point, didn’t have any interest in the opposite gender was willing to put up such a fight to keep her here. But this… it’s different.” Hudson tilted his head almost like a predator would while scrutinizing his prey. “You like her. I wouldn’t be surprised if you two have something going.” His eyes narrowed into slits. “Please tell me you’re not courting her.”
Henry snorted, but it came out choked and strangled. “Courting? What century are you living in?”
“You know what I mean. Are you dating her? Are you whispering sweet nothings into her ear and… falling for her?” Hudson moved closer. “Because that’s dangerous, you know.”
Henry crossed his arms to prevent himself from shoving his brother back a step. The last thing he needed was to get in a brawl with the man. “So what if I was? It’s not affecting my work. It wouldn’t change anything.”
“But it will.”
He huffed. “Yeah? How’s that?”
“When she leaves,” Hudson muttered with a shrug. “Like I said before. She’s a drifter. You can’t deny that. She could leave at any given moment—any second now, something will get too hard and… poof. She’ll disappear into the night.” Hudson lifted his chin and a knowing smile stretched from one side to the other. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you. You’re playing with fire, and I’m not going to help you dress your wounds when you end up getting burned.” With that statement, he spun around and headed for the barn door.
Henry glowered after him. Hudson didn’t know what he was talking about. He wasn’t dating anyone. He couldn’t see what was in Henry’s heart.
Athena was easy to fall for, and Henry didn’t regret a single moment he spent with her. He wasn’t going to let Hudson get to him. This was probably all about the bedroom and his wanting to be right about letting Athena stay.
Henry brushed off the feeling of unease as effortlessly as if it had been a fly landing on his shoulder. He wasn’t worried one bit. Athena had opened up to him. She’d shared more with him than she had anyone else—something just told him that she felt the same about him as he did about her.
Which was why he needed to do something sweet for her. He wanted to show her how much he cared, and the best way to do that would be to find her family.
His heart rang like the celebration of bells at a church. She’d told him where she’d been found. She’d told him her name. He’d already made a few calls and was waiting to hear back from them. If they didn’t get back to him by the beginning of next week, he’d be checking with them again.
There had to be something out there that could guide him to finding her birth parents—or discovering whether she had any siblings. He could already see the look on her face when he told her that she still belonged to someone. Something just told him that this would be the one thing to heal her past heartache.
Henry dove into cleaning up the saddle and brushing down his horse. The day was coming to a close and he hadn’t been able to observe the training session with Beast, but he had a feeling Athena would share every last detail like she usually did.
He couldn’t wait to see the light in her eyes. He craved hearing her laugh. If this wasn’t love, he didn’t know what was. Nothing could be better than the way he felt right here, right now.
When all his work was complete, Henry stepped out into the afternoon sun. He shaded his eyes, scanning the immediate area for the one person he wanted to see. He’d hoped to see her out visiting with any of the numerous people on the ranch, but he couldn’t catch sight of her.
It would be suppertime soon. She might be in her room. Or she could be out back. Athena seemed to prefer the quiet after a long day and watching the sun disappear behind the mountains. Often that was where he would find her. Finding an appreciation in the world around him hadn’t ever been on his list of priorities. After meeting Athena, that had changed.
Henry headed in that direction. It didn’t matter that they’d shared most of their time in each other’s company. His heart still thundered when he knew he’d see her again. He loved the way she would sit quietly without moving a muscle and allow herself to be immersed in the nature that surrounded them. It was getting easier for him to do the same.
Rather than walk through the house to get to the back, he made his way around. Doing so would prevent him from letting the back door bang shut upon his exit. As he turned the corner of the house, he paused. The worries of the world melted away upon seeing the profile of her face. Her eyes were closed, and her face was upturned so that the glow from the sun bathed her in a pretty golden color.
The warm breeze rippled through the overgrown grass in the back. Even after his family had taken all the time and care to fix up the house and the barn, no one wanted to take it upon themselves to maintain the back—which still looked like an overgrown meadow that belonged in a watercolor painting. They’d always had brightly colored flowers behind their house. Henry had always thought his mother was initially responsible for their appearance.
Unfortunately, they’d gotten out of hand and most of the backyard was covered in them. From bright, yellow-colored flowers that seemed to mimic sunflowers to the bluebells he’d always liked, he couldn’t blame her for preferring the place back here to any other.
He took a step forward and a twig snapped under his boot.
Her eyes fluttered open for a quick moment, and then she smiled as she allowed them to close. “I was wondering when you’d show up. I saw you come back from your trip with Hudson. How was it?”
Henry moved closer to her like a moth drawn to a flame. No, that was the wrong analogy. She was his siren, and he would do anything for her. “It wasn’t as fun as the ride we took last week.”
At that, she turned her face toward him. Her eyes locked with his and her smile deepened. “I should hope not.”
He stopped at the foot of the stairs, resting a forearm on the railing, reveling in her beauty. He still couldn’t believe all that had happened since they’d first met. “What did you do today? How did training go?”
She lifted one shoulder absently. “Sometimes I don’t see why you even want me out there. He’s such a sweetheart.”
He made a face. “You’ve seen first-hand when he’s gotten out of control. For some reason he only trusts you.”
“What are you going to do when it’s time for competition? I can’t be there in the arena with him.” She stood and moved down the stairs as if she were floating on a cloud itself. “We need to get him comfortable with the person who will be competing.”
Henry cocked his head to the side, his grin turning slyer by the second. “I think that’s an excellent idea.”
“Brielle said that Wade hasn’t decided if they actually want Beast to compete. Has he even thought about who would be riding?”
“I have a few ideas.” Henry climbed one step so she was at eye-level with him.
“I hope whoever it is will treat him with care. He’s a gentle spirit. One wrong move and he’ll hold it against them.”
“You think so?” Henry placed his hand over hers, their fingers brushing against one another. If anyone were to exit the house at that moment, there would be no hiding that they were romantically involved.
She stared down at their hands as she spoke. “I do. I can’t be certain, but I think he’s been hurt before. Maybe not physically… but something happened to turn him against the ordinary cowboy.” Her words were thoughtful and slow. They made his heart ache, and his thoughts immediately returned to that day when she’d confessed that she had her own painful baggage.
“You should do it.”
Athena lifted her eyes.
Henry continued, “The competition. You should be the one to ride Beast.”